SEATTLE (Ticker) -- The Miami Heat were in the wrong city to try
to find a third straight victory.

Gary Payton scored 25 points and dished out 13 assists as the
Seattle SuperSonics remained unbeaten at home against the Heat
with a 99-81 victory.

"We wanted to dictate the tempo with pressure defense," Seattle
coach Nate McMillan said. "We allowed them to push us around in
the first half but in the second half we changed and went to
aggressive play while being patient in our offensive game."

A familiar nemesis helped contribute to Miami's demise. Patrick
Ewing scored 16 points, one shy of his season high, as Seattle
improved to 13-0 all-time at home against Miami.

Ewing, who often victimized the Heat when he was with the New
York Knicks, also added 10 rebounds. He shot 8-of-10 from the
floor and had four steals.

"They are a lot smaller than us so Nate called my number and I
was able to take advantage of it," Ewing said. "We tried to
come out with a lot of enthusiasm."

Payton had a spectacular game despite playing with a sore right
knee that he apparently suffered in a 94-93 win at Vancouver on
Wednesday. He scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, including
11 of Seattle's first 13.

"(The knee) was all right," Payton said. "You just have got to
go through it. I just ran through it and I will deal with it
tomorrow."

The Sonics used a 17-0 run that bridged the second and third
quarters to rally from a 44-35 deficit. Ewing scored eight
points in the run. His basket off an assist from Payton opened
the scoring in the third quarter and gave Seattle the lead for
good.

After Miami closed to 57-53, Seattle ended the third quarter
with an 18-6 spurt. Included were consecutive 3-pointers by
Shammond Williams that gave Seattle a 73-59 advantage.

"It wasn't the third quarter," Miami coach Pat Riley said. "It
was the last two or three minutes of the second quarter when we
had a 44-35 lead. They were absolutely great. We couldn't buy
a basket and we couldn't catch the ball."

Anthony Mason scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the
Heat, who fell back to the .500 mark and failed to move two
games over .500 for the first time this season.

Seattle established Ewing's presence early. The center was
4-of-4 from the floor in the first quarter.

"We knew that they only played three big men and we let Patrick
go to work on Mason," Payton said. "He made baskets and that is
the Patrick of old. If he can get games like that, it is going
to make it a lot easier."

The Heat used a 8-0 run in the second quarter to build a 44-35
advantage with 2:43 left in the half. Bruce Bowen hit two
3-pointers in the run as Miami established their largest lead of
the game.

"I thought that we played a little soft in the first half,"
McMillan said.

Miami center Brian Grant went 0-for-6 from the floor and scored
just five points. Grant had his best game of the season against
the Sonics on November 8, recording 30 points and 21 rebounds in
an 87-81 home win. He picked up two fouls in the first five
minutes and was never able to get into a solid rhythm.

"I got in early foul trouble," he said. "You try to play the
same way but you aren't really playing aggressively. You're
thinking about getting another foul."

Rashard Lewis scored 16 points and had eight rebounds for the
Sonics, who shot a robust 39-for-77 (50.6 percent) for the game.

Seattle improved to 7-3 under interim coach Nate McMillan.

"We are more together now," Payton said. "We know our roles and
we played better defensive-wise."